


Morning After Freedom

by Burgie



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/F, I have a lot of feelings about Ala Mhigo okay, Miqo'te WoL, female WoL, that last cutscene of Stormblood? Gold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22197091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: The morning after the reclamation of Ala Mhigo, it all still feels like a dream.
Relationships: Lyse Hext/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 17





	Morning After Freedom

Lyse’s first thought upon waking was that this had to be a dream. Had to be, because it just didn’t make sense for her to be… here. She couldn’t, shouldn’t, be here, in the royal palace of Ala Mhigo. But these bedsheets were too fine to be the rough cotton ones that she’d been sleeping on in her commander’s tent. The woman in her arms was the same, the miqo’te who’d been so important to making this all happen. A smile on her lips, Lyse pressed her nose to the back of Veronyka’s neck, where her hair parted to cascade down over her shoulders. Ordinarily, this was enough to wake her girlfriend, but the celebrations the night before must have tired her out, because she didn’t even flick an ear. She only gave a little snore, which Lyse laughed at softly before resting her forehead against her girlfriend’s bare back.

They stayed like this for a while, Lyse enjoying the warmth of her girlfriend even as warm light spilled in through the balcony window, warming the polished stones of the floor and the rougher stones of the walls. By mid-afternoon, Lyse knew, this room would be scorching hot. But that just meant that there was a valid excuse for sleeping naked. In the warm, quiet peace, the sounds of a city slowly stirring to life outside the windows filtering up to reach Lyse’s ears, Lyse found herself dozing off again, safe and secure with the one she loved in a place that she’d never thought possible.

The next time Lyse awoke, she felt different. Changed. Rather than overwhelming love crashing into her heart, Lyse felt excitement thrill through her veins, her bones, every part of her. It was enough to send her rising from the bed, padding barefoot across the warm stone floor. Now, Veronyka’s ear twitched behind her, and she sat up in time to see her girlfriend speeding her steps towards the balcony, still naked as the day she’d been born.

“Lyse!” Veronyka cried, scrambling up, a grin tugging at her lips. “At least wear a robe!” So saying, she grabbed the silken robe that had been hung on the bed’s baseboard and tossed it at her girlfriend, Lyse turning to catch it swiftly before tugging it on and belting the sash around her waist.

Laughing, Veronyka got out of bed and pulled on her own robe (black to match Lyse’s red, and silk because she deserved it) before padding after her girlfriend, coming to stand beside her at the balcony.

“This is real, isn’t it?” Lyse asked as she looked down at the city below, already crawling with people. The Ala Mhigans who had come back to reclaim their homeland. How good it was to see civilians there, dressed in the usual clothes favoured by Gyr Abanians, rather than nobles suckling at the teat of the Garleans. Or black-clad Garleans themselves.

“It’s real,” said Veronyka, smiling as she rested her head on Lyse’s shoulder. Just as she had the previous afternoon, after Zenos had fallen on his own sword quite literally, taking their victory from them. That still stung a little, but… Hien was right. Now was a time to celebrate.

And now, as then, Lyse began to sing the anthem of Gyr Abania, the song that Veronyka had heard many a time even before then, hummed when she was Yda and didn’t think that anyone was listening. Veronyka had bade then-Yda to sing it to her, wanting to put words to such a wonderful tune that often found its way into her head. And now, just as then, Veronyka raised her voice to sing with Lyse, their voices weaving through the buildings, carrying on the mid-morning air to whoever could hear it.

Once the song had finished, Veronyka looked up into Lyse’s eyes, smiling at her. Lyse beamed back at her, radiant.

“It all feels like a dream, still,” said Lyse.

“I know,” said Veronyka. “Do you think this is what Hien and Eden felt like, the morning after Doma was freed?”

“Quite possibly,” said Lyse, winding an arm around her girlfriend. “What say we go and see if anyone’s set up a breakfast shop yet, huh?”

“After we put on some proper clothes,” said Veronyka. “You might be willing to walk around in nothing but a robe but I’m not.” Lyse laughed.

“Of course, we’ll get dressed first,” said Lyse. “And then breakfast. And then… we’ll see what needs doing next. Other than everything.”

Finally, Lyse managed to pull herself away from the sight before her, knowing that she’d soon be among it, and padded back into the bedroom, Veronyka following after her with a grin.

“This just still all feels so unreal,” said Lyse as she tossed her robe back onto the bed and bent to rummage through the chest of drawers to find a clean pair of underwear. “I expected to wake up back in the commander’s tent, waiting for the attack on Ala Mhigo, not… wake up inside the palace walls.”

“With a beautiful girl in your arms, no less,” said Veronyka, watching as Lyse found a bra, followed by looking between her fancier outfit and more casual clothing.

“Never thought I’d see the day when you had the confidence to call yourself beautiful,” said Lyse, smiling at her. Veronyka blushed, her hand coming up to play with a lock of her hair.

“I mean, I woke up with a beautiful girl in my arms too,” said Veronyka. “Kind of, anyway. I actually woke up to see a beautiful naked girl walking over to the balcony where everyone could see her.” Lyse laughed and, finding clean underwear and a clean corset for her girlfriend, tossed these to her.

“I wonder who put our clothes in here last night,” said Lyse. “At least, I hope they were here before we fell asleep for the night.”

“I think they were,” said Veronyka. “Normally, I’d blame Tataru, but I don’t know where she is right now. Doma? The Rising Stones?”

“Behind you,” Lyse teased, and Veronyka yelped and spun around to look behind her before pouting at her girlfriend.

“Lyse,” Veronyka complained, flicking her tail while Lyse giggled.

“Listen, that is one terrifying little woman,” said Lyse. “The amount of times I turned around to find her behind me…”

“Trying to get you a new outfit?” Veronyka asked. Lyse shook her head.

“Sometimes, but mostly just with an update on something,” said Lyse. “It was quite a bit more terrifying when I was pretending to be my sister, you know?”

“Did she ever know your sister?” Veronyka asked.

“Well… no, actually,” said Lyse, pausing with her red vest in her hands. Her fancier outfit was far too fancy for breakfast in the city and… in a state of being crumpled on the floor where Lyse had tossed it the night before. “But the fear is still there, you know?”

“I know,” said Veronyka, nodding and laying a hand on Lyse’s arm. She leaned in to press a kiss to her girlfriend’s lips before pulling away to find the red coat that she’d worn once so long ago. “Would it be unfashionable, do you think, for both of us to wear red?”

“The ladies in red,” Lyse mused. She shrugged but then shook her head. “Actually, maybe we shouldn’t anyway, we don’t want Tataru interrupting our breakfast to lecture us on being too matching. Remember how she used to rant about the twins doing that?”

“How could I forget?” Veronyka laughed. “Well, what do you suggest I wear, then?” Lyse hummed thoughtfully as she glanced in Veronyka’s side of the wardrobe, and then reached in to pluck out the blue dancer’s outfit that Veronyka had worn for some portions of the Doma trip.

“Not too fancy for breakfast, I hope?” Lyse asked as she handed it to her girlfriend. “Or you could wear those clothes that you used to wear after working for the beast tribes all day.”

“I’m tempted, but no,” said Veronyka, fitting her corset around her middle. She turned around, pulling her hair over her shoulder with one hand while holding the corset in place with the other. “Lace me up? I want to wear this today, so it has to be something that covers it.”

“Ah, I see,” said Lyse. “I wonder… I still have that old shirt that I used to wear.”

“The one that you never fastened all the buttons of, which showed off your bra? That old shirt?” Veronyka prompted. Lyse laughed.

“Of course you remember that one,” said Lyse.

“How could I forget?” Veronyka asked, grinning, the tip of her tail wiggling. “I used to envy that self-confidence.”

“And? Did it rub off on you?” Lyse teased.

“Maybe,” said Veronyka, blushing as she felt Lyse begin to tie the laces of her corset, finishing with a little bow up the top. “Thanks.”

“Not too tight, I hope?” Lyse asked. Veronyka shook her head as she straightened up, breathing deeply to ensure that it wouldn’t hinder her breathing any.

“It’s perfect,” said Veronyka, grinning at her. She placed a kiss on Lyse’s cheek. “Now, where’s that shirt?”

At last, the two left the palace, descending down to the streets below, where the paving stones were warm, sending heat to their skin already, while the sight of so many people so happy and free warmed their hearts.

“And I thought the Reach smelled good at mealtimes,” said Veronyka, inhaling deeply of the scents of sweet pastries mixing with savoury fried foods and even a few simple stews packed with delicious herbs and spices. And, overlaid above it all, the rich aroma of coffee.

“Apparently, it always used to smell this good in the city,” said Lyse. “Conrad told me all about it, and some of the older members of the Resistance.”

“And now you’ll get to experience it firsthand,” said Veronyka. Lyse smiled at her, misty-eyed, and pulled her in for a brief hug before continuing on down the street so that they wouldn’t clog it.

“Are you in the mood for anything in particular?” Lyse asked. “Personally, I’m a fan of pastries.”

“And sun lemonade,” Veronyka remembered from one of their dates in Limsa. “I remember.” Lyse grinned at her.

“You really picked lemons for me in the orchard and made lemonade right there in the middle of the orchard for me,” said Lyse. Veronyka shrugged, grinning.

“Worth it for you,” said Veronyka. “I learned to cook for you, I hope you appreciate that.”

“Course I do,” said Lyse, nudging her with her shoulder. “I was freaking out after you left for Doma and…”

“I teleported us right to the closest aetheryte in Limsa and spent the afternoon with you,” said Veronyka. “I remember. And then I promised to stay with you. Until Asahi turned his sister into a primal.”

“That little brat is lucky his sister killed him, or I would’ve gladly done it myself,” said Lyse.

“Me too,” said Veronyka. “Just a pair of girlfriends beating the snot out of a guy.”

“You say that like that’s not our idea of a perfect date,” said Lyse. Veronyka giggled.

“Though I wouldn’t mind a nice breakfast date. You know, like other couples,” said Veronyka. 

“Then let’s not waste any more time,” said Lyse. “Those pastries are calling my name.” Veronyka laughed, lacing her fingers with Lyse’s as they turned down a side street to find the plump woman selling sweet pastries and coffee, with a side of fresh berries and cream.

“Here’s to the first day of the rest of our lives,” said Veronyka as they sat at one of the little umbrella-covered tables, holding up her coffee cup. Lyse smiled at her, eyes holding the promise of forever and more, as she tapped her cup against Veronyka’s.

“Here’s to forever,” Lyse agreed. “And to Ala Mhigo.” And it wasn’t just the coffee and sugar surging through her veins giving her energy. It wasn’t just the sun. It was Lyse, and everything about this. It was Ala Mhigo, finally free, finally their home. As it always should have been.


End file.
